Quotes of the Week: Playa, Choice, Jumeirah, Apple REIT

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We debated a lot when we created our values, including the word ‘love.’ We really felt it was important because we’re all human beings, and what I love about this industry is you have great people people, and I think people inherently do love each other in today’s world. Maybe it doesn’t appear that way today, but I think deep down people do. So, we decided to put it in our values as part of our ‘service from the heart’ approach to business. We thought it was a great way of reflecting the values of all of our associates at Playa and how they communicate that to our guests.” – Bruce Wardinski, Playa Hotels & Resorts  Read story

“It’s [premium value] a real space that straddles that midscale and economy. You’re seeing a lot of really well-performing economy hotels that don’t want to be known as economy hotels. You see a lot of midscale hotels that are falling into the economy space, but they don’t want to be known as economy hotels… We saw this white space that no one’s gone after. There’s not, to me, brands out there doing that. We saw that as a great opportunity.” – David Pepper, Choice Hotels International  Read story

“We find ourselves in a position to be very competitive around larger assets in some of these urban markets, where ordinarily we would have seen very stiff competition, mainly from private equity, but from a variety of potential buyers. Given our ready access to capital and ability to bid on assets without financing contingencies, we’ve been more successful.” – Justin Knight, Apple Hospitality  Read story

“Refining our visual identity and enhancing our guest experience is the first step on a journey of regional and international expansion, that will captivate the most discerning of traveler. We have strong foundations to build from and an exceptionally talented team that I am confident will see Jumeirah reaffirm its reputation as a leader in luxury hospitality.” – Thomas Meier, Jumeirah  Read story

“This is more back to [the fact that] we really got no price discovery [on the Wyndham acquisition]. We had laid out a $90 [per share] offer. We felt that was a full premium for the value that could be created. You don’t see a lot of opportunities to create over $2 billion in value creation for shareholders on both sides. So, it’s really a question that should be answered by the Wyndham shareholders in the future.” – Patrick Pacious, Choice Hotels International  Read story

“There's a growing consumer demand for reliable-yet-affordable accommodation in the region. Our goal is to be everywhere our guests want us to be, with the right property in the right location, at the right price point. This collaboration with KKR will expand our ability to do exactly that – starting in Japan, with opportunity to grow our midscale presence in the region.” – Rajeev Menon, Marriott International  Read story

“We believe the percentage of intra-regional investors (i.e., U.K. investments in Spanish or French hotels) is considerably higher. Given the positive sentiment among investors, CBRE Hotels Research expects that the cross-border capital share of total global hotel investment will increase in 2024.” – CBRE  Read story

“We have seen already seen an increase of 30% in [day pass] bookings in 2024 as we create awareness, new access and deliver exceptional opportunities for local guests and visitors. We anticipate this upward trajectory to continue.” – Hilton spokesperson  Read story